England's blistering start to the Super Eight came to a halt on Friday (June 21) as they suffered a heartbreaking seven-run loss to South Africa at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St. Lucia.
When the England captain Jos Buttler was asked to pinpoint the reason behind the loss he had no hesitation in admitting that the defending champions failed to match South Africa's tempo in the powerplay.
"I'd say in the powerplay, actually. Quinton de Kock came out with a lot of intent, really attacked that powerplay and we couldn't match that. We were quite happy chasing 160 but I thought they bowled well," said Buttler during the post-match presentation.
Quinton de Kock got South Africa off to a flyer as they posted 63 on the board without loss inside the first six overs at 10.50 runs per over.
De Kock did the bulk of the scoring in the powerplay as he scored 49 of those 63 runs while chewing up just 20 deliveries in the process.
On the contrary, England were tied down by the South African bowlers and they could only manage 41 of their first six overs, including the loss of Phil Salt's wicket.
However, England came back strongly as Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone registered a 78-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The match looked evenly poised with the Three Lions only needing 14 off the last six deliveries and South Africa held their nerve to close the game in their favour.
"I thought we came back really well with the ball and I thought Brook and Livi had a fantastic partnership there to take us close, and at one point looking like favourites. But it doesn't work like that in T20 cricket, and South Africa closed out well," added Buttler.
England are still in the race to the semifinals and will play a deflated USA side on June 23 at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
